Surgical staplers have been used in the prior art to simultaneously make a longitudinal incision in tissue and apply lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. Such instruments commonly include a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. Such instruments typically include a plurality of reciprocating wedges that, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil.
An example of a surgical stapler suitable for endoscopic applications is described in published U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0232196, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING SEPARATE DISTINCT CLOSING AND FIRING SYSTEMS, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,818, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In use, a clinician is able to close the jaw members of the stapler upon tissue to position the tissue prior to firing. Once the clinician has determined that the jaw members are properly gripping tissue, the clinician can fire the surgical stapler, thereby severing and stapling the tissue. The simultaneous severing and stapling steps avoid complications that may arise when performing such actions sequentially with different surgical tools that respectively only sever or staple.
Motor-powered surgical cutting and fastening instruments, where a motor powers the cutting instrument, are also known in the prior art, such as described in published U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0175962, entitled MOTOR-DRIVEN SURGICAL CUTTING AND FASTENING INSTRUMENT WITH TACTILE POSITION FEEDBACK, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,139, which is incorporated herein by reference. In this reference, a battery in the handle is used to electrically power the motor.